decided for yourself and them; and you and they have prospered
exceedingly under that decision.

This nation, Sir, never thought of departing from that choice until the
period immediately on the close of the last war. Then a scheme of
government, new in many things, seemed to have been adopted. I saw, or
thought I saw, several symptoms of a great change, whilst I sat in your
gallery, a good while before I had the honor of a seat in this House.
At that period the necessity was established of keeping up no less than
twenty new regiments, with twenty colonels capable of seats in this
House. This scheme was adopted with very general applause from all
sides, at the very time that, by your conquests in America, your danger
from foreign attempts in that part of the world was much lessened, or
indeed rather quite over. When this huge increase of military
establishment was resolved on, a revenue was to be found to support so
great a burden. Country gentlemen, the great patrons of economy, and the
great resisters of a standing armed force, would not have entered with
much alacrity into the vote for so large and so expensive an army, if
they had been very sure that they were to continue to pay for it. But
hopes of another kind were held out to them; and in particular, I well
remember that Mr. Townshend, in a brilliant harangue on this subject,
did dazzle them by playing before their eyes the image of a revenue to
be raised in America.

Here began to dawn the first glimmerings of this new colony system. It
appeared more distinctly afterwards, when it was devolved upon a person
to whom, on other accounts, this country owes very great obligations. I
do believe that he had a very serious desire to benefit the public. But
with no small study of the detail, he did not seem to have his view, at
least equally, carried to the total circuit of our affairs. He generally